BlackHawk Presents $20,000 Check to Nashville's Vanderbilt-Ingram for Cancer Research

One of country music's most loved groups, BlackHawk, has once again raised funding for Nashville's Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center on behalf of the Van Stephenson Memorial Cancer Research Fund. BlackHawk's two surviving founding members – Henry Paul and Dave Robbins – presented their annual donation to the hospital in honor of their third bandmate Van, who died from melanoma skin cancer in 2001. The latest donation brings their total to $100,000 raised for Vanderbilt-Ingram's research lab since 2006.

“The funds that BlackHawk has raised and donated have made a real difference in our ability to accelerate research and provide better treatments for patients with malignant melanoma,” says Dr. Hal Moses, director of the Frances Williams Preston Research Laboratories at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

In addition to their check presentation, Henry and Dave, along with current guitarist and vocalist Randy Threet, also visited with staff and patients throughout the hospital, performing some of their hits from their career to help bring a smile to their faces. “We want people to know that we are thinking about them and we have been affected by the disease as well with our loss of Van,” says Henry. “Sometimes music is a very uplifting distraction from the crazy reality of battling a deadly disease.”